Finally Got Stronger but Ended Up Regressing

Chapter 12 Leave (3)

“What?! How can you do it without a weapon?”

“I’ll take the weapons from them and use them.”

“Koo Yoonho! Does that even make sense now?”

“I’ll make it make sense.”

I added with a resolute expression.

“I am confident.”

Then I briefly made eye contact with Corporal Jeong Yesom. She knew me better than anyone. She judged that I wouldn’t act like this without any plan.

“Alright. Let’s go. But don’t get hurt. I won’t let it slide.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Meanwhile, five Garoks landed on the ground. They had slender heads with protruding snouts like greyhounds, and their overall atmosphere was similar to Nori or Deriphon.

However, their weapons were decisively different.

Large, broad kitchen knives.

There was a clear difference from crude clubs.

Whoosh!

Despite the threatening appearance of the Garoks, Corporal Jeong Yesom cast a spell without hesitation.

A fireball wrapped around her hand.

Although the firepower would be weaker without a staff, it would be enough against the Garoks.

“Flames, burn everything!”

In this situation, drawing aggro was the priority. Corporal Jeong Yesom shot fireballs indiscriminately.

Soon, the Garoks’ attention was focused on her.

They raised their kitchen knives and charged towards Corporal Jeong Yesom.

In that gap, I moved in.

“Over here!”

As I shouted loudly, three of them turned towards me.

A giant kitchen knife swung at me.

An attack I had already anticipated.

I dodged the knife by leaning back.

Two others were rushing at me from both sides.

I calmly waited for their attack.

Buzz.

Two kitchen knives slashed diagonally. Garoks are characterized by putting strong force into each strike.

So, if you know how to deal with them, they are easy to handle.

Swish.

I twisted my body just in time.

The next attack, and the one after that, couldn’t even touch the hem of my clothes.

What I couldn’t see before the regression, I can now see clearly.

Even with low physical strength, I can react to everything.

Whoosh.

As I dodged another attack, I kicked the guy in front of me with all my might.

Thud!

His right leg buckled. He floundered as if he had fallen into water. The kitchen knife in his hand wavered aimlessly.

I quickly snatched it away.

Swish.

The sound of the blade being unsheathed was exquisite. The guy, who had finally regained his balance, frantically attacked me, but a Garok without a kitchen knife was no different from a toothless tiger.

Slash!

I grabbed his arm with my left hand and struck down hard with the kitchen knife in my right hand.

Thud, something long fell to the ground.

It was his forearm.

“Screeeech!”

As the sound of a pig being slaughtered echoed in my ears, the other two guys attacked me again. The mercilessly wielded kitchen knives targeted my entire body.

But I could still see everything.

I dodged the attack coming from the left by slightly lowering my head, and I completely blocked the attack coming from the right with an [efficient parry].

Clang!

The dull noise that was always pleasant to hear. I pushed back, making the guy stagger.

What happened next was obvious.

I grabbed his head with my left hand and slit his throat with the kitchen knife.

The blade was so sharp that I could cut through all the blood vessels without much effort.

“Gurgle.”

The guy, who died with only a death rattle, couldn’t even close his eyes.

As his two friends were brutally killed, the last guy started to back away.

Even a ferocious monster follows its instincts in the face of the fear of death.

But Garok is only strong, not fast.

I chased him down in one breath and swung the kitchen knife using [Slash].

With the added ability, its power increased even more.

Swoosh!

A red line appeared on the enemy’s chest. It wasn’t just a simple sword strike, but a fatal blow that tore through the flesh.

Thud.

The enemy’s knees buckled helplessly to the ground. The kitchen knife, now without its master, rolled beside him. The eyes that had been emitting a fierce glare were now half-turned.

At that moment, a cheerful sound accompanied by a notification popped up.

Ding!

《You have put the opponent in a state of complete shock.》

《A new ability [Groggy] has been unlocked.》

《From now on, if you successfully land consecutive attacks, you can make the opponent collapse.》

Most abilities require both proficiency and understanding to be unlocked.

However, this [Groggy] also requires the special condition of putting the opponent in a ‘state of complete shock.’

Regardless of the opponent’s level, achieving that state is quite tricky.

If you go too hard, they die.

If you go too soft, you get hit instead.

If you go just right, you only exhaust your stamina.

That’s why I couldn’t even dream of it before the regression.

‘What an unexpected windfall. I never even thought about [Groggy].’

Making the opponent collapse doesn’t necessarily require the help of an ability.

Instead, the opponent just needs to be exhausted or injured enough.

On the other hand, [Groggy] activates immediately if you just land consecutive attacks.

Even if the opponent is still in good shape, you can make them kneel before you!

In that moment, you can land a critical hit on their head or heart.

How useful is this ability?

“Yunho!”

Meanwhile, Corporal Jeong Yesom had also finished her battle.

Two charred lumps lay on the ground.

A still-hot fireball spun around them.

“Private Gu Yunho.”

I waved my hand at her, signaling that I was fine.

The battle itself was clearly dominated by me.

The checkered shirt was soaked in bright red, but not a single drop of my blood was mixed in it.

There wasn’t a moment of crisis.

However, I am still held back by my physical strength.

To exaggerate a bit, it feels like I did a rapid march up a mountain with full gear.

“Huff, huff.”

Well, as long as we won.

If it were before the regression, I wouldn’t have had to worry about physical strength or anything, and I would have ended up like that. Looking around at the cold corpses, I turned to the side again.

“Nice!”

I high-fived Sergeant Jeong Yesom, who had run over. Excited, she even hugged me.

The soft sensation against my chest.

She is quite big.

“You’re getting blood on you.”

“So what if a little blood gets on me.”

She smiled brightly and patted my head.

“There was a reason why Yunho said that earlier, wasn’t there?”

“What do you mean?”

“That you were confident.”

Her voice becomes quite serious.

“So I’m sorry.”

“What? Why are you suddenly apologizing?”

“To be honest, I doubted you. If it weren’t for the urgent situation, I would have just told you to stay back.”

“Oh.”

“But I didn’t expect you to fight so well.”

“I understand. If it were me, I wouldn’t have just told you to stay back, I would have told you to get lost.”

“Pfft. No need to go that far.”

It’s worth going that far.

Because I was that kind of guy.

“A guy who isn’t skilled enough stepping into a battle only causes harm to his comrades. Sergeant Jeong Yesom, you made the right decision. There’s no need to apologize.”

“Hey. Saying it like that makes me feel even more sorry.”

“Then buy me some frozen treats when we get back to the base tomorrow. I’ll gladly accept them as an apology.”

“Alright. That’s perfectly doable.”

And with that, the situation was resolved.

Just in case, I looked around the dungeon, but there was nothing unusual. No more Garoks appeared.

Since it exploded as soon as it was created, there was no need to go inside.

“Wow, hunters are really something.”

“Where did these hunters come from? Are they from a guild?”

“They took down those monsters in an instant… Both of them are amazing.”

“The woman using fire magic is impressive, but what about the man? He dodged all the monsters’ attacks effortlessly.”

Citizens who had fled the streets or taken refuge inside buildings began to gather one by one.

In their hands, they were already holding their phones.

Click, click, like they were photographing celebrities on the street, they captured me and Corporal Jeong Ye-som with their cameras.

When I looked up, flashes were going off from above as well. It seemed some were taking pictures from high places.

At that moment.

“Damn! What happened here!”

Hunters in military uniforms rushed into the scene.

Were they the standby resources from the nearby unit?

I wasn’t sure of their exact affiliation, but there was a V mark on the combat helmet of the one leading them.

Corporal Jeong Ye-som and I immediately saluted.

“Loyalty! We are soldiers from the Bihodae Battalion!”

And then we reported.

“A little while ago, a dungeon appeared here and exploded, releasing five Garoks…”

There was nothing complicated about it.

“…so the two of us joined forces and took down all five Garoks. That’s all.”

We just had to relay the situation as it was.

The sergeant asked.

“Well done. But what are your ranks?”

“I’m a corporal.”

At Corporal Jeong Ye-som’s words, the sergeant had a look of understanding. Even if the Garoks weren’t that high-level, dealing with such a sudden situation required at least a corporal’s rank.

And then I said.

“I’m a private.”

“…Private?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It seems we have a real gem in the Viper Battalion. I can’t believe a private accomplished such a remarkable feat.”

A real gem, huh.

If he knew my reputation in the unit, he would never say that.

Even the officers from other squads would say, “Having someone like Koo Yoon-ho in the unit is a loss. All he can do is clean up after others.”

It’s fine.

I can change my reputation from now on.

Starting with today’s Modang Station incident.

*

The incident was reported much more extensively and intensively than I had expected.

– Are you saying that if the two hunters hadn’t been passing through Modang Station at that time, there would have been significant casualties?

– Yes. It was a weekend night, so it would have been hard to grasp the situation properly. Drunk passersby would have been caught by the Garoks’ blades without knowing anything.

– The two hunters really did a great job.

– Yes. They saved the lives of dozens of citizens.

The attention continued even after I returned to the unit from my leave.

Corporal Jung Yesom and I reported back not to the situation room, but to the company commander’s office.

“Hahaha! Well done, well done. Our Private Koo Yoon-ho and Corporal Jung Yesom have raised the name of the Viper Battalion.”

Captain Oh Jun-beom used to call me “Hey, you, anyone, someone.”

Now, I was affectionately called “our Private Koo Yoon-ho.”

I guess success really does change people.

“Saving citizens without backing down in any situation is the mindset and qualification of a hunter. I’m grateful that you followed the company commander’s teachings well.”

I wanted to say, “Is that why you worked the company members so hard to fill your own record?” but I kept it to myself.

“Loyalty! Yes, sir. Ah! Yes, understood.”

Captain Oh Jun-beom was taking a call from a high-ranking officer with both hands.

“Then please go ahead, Battalion Commander. Loyalty!!”

It was Lieutenant Colonel Park Ui-chul, the commander of the Viper Battalion.

“Haha, good news. The battalion commander said he will award you a commendation tomorrow.”

I had never met him except during events before the regression, but I would meet him tomorrow.

“What kind of commendation, sir?”

“What kind of commendation is it?”

Captain Oh Jun-beom pointed to the wall by the door with his chin. There were photos of a few soldiers hanging there.

Below them, it was written:

“Heroes Who Shone in Bihor.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“It’s a commendation for the heroes who shone in Bihor.”

It’s been well over 15 years since the Bihor Battalion was established. In that long time, only three people had been recognized. The title of “heroes who shone in Bihor” carried that much significance.

“You know, right? Han Jae-woo, the master of Blue Riser, is also one of the heroes who shone in Bihor?”

“!!”

“Starting tomorrow, you two will also carry on that glory.”

Gulp, I swallowed deeply.

Han Jae-woo.

An iconic figure and living legend who rose from the bottom to the top.

My heart started pounding like crazy at the thought of sharing the same glory as him.